I couldn't suppress a smile on reading the title of this post. It reminded me of a great passage in Katherine Anne Porters trenchant social novel, _Ship of Fools_ , in which Rieber, a rabid anti-Semite, nevertheless indignantly denies that he is one: "I'm not an anti-Semite. How can you say that? I'm very fond of the Arabs. I lived among them for a while and found them to be very good people."
Porter's novel was based on her shipboard experiences during a transatlantic crossing on a German liner in 1931, just as the Nazis were becoming a formidable socio-political force; she admitted that she drew heavily on her observations of actual passengers, events, and conversations during the voyage. It just goes to show you, _plus ça change . . .
I couldn't suppress a smile on reading the title of this post. It reminded me of a great passage in Katherine Anne Porters trenchant social novel, _Ship of Fools_ , in which Rieber, a rabid anti-Semite, nevertheless indignantly denies that he is one: "I'm not an anti-Semite. How can you say that? I'm very fond of the Arabs. I lived among them for a while and found them to be very good people."
ReplyDeletePorter's novel was based on her shipboard experiences during a transatlantic crossing on a German liner in 1931, just as the Nazis were becoming a formidable socio-political force; she admitted that she drew heavily on her observations of actual passengers, events, and conversations during the voyage. It just goes to show you, _plus ça change . . .
I read the book decades ago. Maybe it's time for a re-read.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Adolf Eichmann, too,claimed he wasn't an anti-Semite. He also insisted he was a Zionist.